title: Tissue microarray immunohistochemical detection of brachyury is not a prognostic indicator in chordoma.
abstract: Brachyury is a marker for notochord-derived tissues and neoplasms, such as chordoma. However, the prognostic relevance of brachyury expression in chordoma is still unknown. The improvement of tissue microarray technology has provided the opportunity to perform analyses of tumor tissues on a large scale in a uniform and consistent manner. This study was designed with the use of tissue microarray to determine the expression of brachyury. Brachyury expression in chordoma tissues from 78 chordoma patients was analyzed by immunohistochemical staining of tissue microarray. The clinicopathologic parameters, including gender, age, location of tumor and metastatic status were evaluated. Fifty-nine of 78 (75.64%) tumors showed nuclear staining for brachyury, and among them, 29 tumors (49.15%) showed 1+ (<30% positive cells) staining, 15 tumors (25.42%) had 2+ (31% to 60% positive cells) staining, and 15 tumors (25.42%) demonstrated 3+ (61% to 100% positive cells) staining. Brachyury nuclear staining was detected more frequently in sacral chordomas than in chordomas of the mobile spine. However, there was no significant relationship between brachyury expression and other clinical variables. By Kaplan-Meier analysis, brachyury expression failed to produce any significant relationship with the overall survival rate. In conclusion, brachyury expression is not a prognostic indicator in chordoma.
authors.affiliation: Sarcoma Biology Laboratory, Center for Sarcoma and Connective Tissue Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America ; Department of Pathology, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
authors.forename: Linlin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Shang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Joseph H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Schwab
authors.forename: G Petur
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.forename: Edwin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Choy
authors.forename: Shunan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Zhan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mankin
authors.forename: Francis J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Hornicek
authors.forename: Zhenfeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Duan
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D002817:Chordoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005326:Fetal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012737:Sex Factors; D020825:T-Box Domain Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis; D000098908:Brachyury Protein
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D005326:Fetal Proteins; D020825:T-Box Domain Proteins; D000098908:Brachyury Protein